And at the end of ten days, they looked healthier and better nourished than all the young men who were eating the king’s food.
Parallel translations
- WEB At the end of ten days their faces appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths who ate of the king’s dainties.
- KJV And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.
- NKJV And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies.
- NASB And at the end of ten days their appearance seemed better, and they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food.
- NLT At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
After ten days the four look healthier than those eating the royal food. God blesses their faithfulness with visible thriving.
Overview
The better appearance is not presented as a property of the diet but as God's gracious vindication of their obedience. As in Joseph and the exodus, the Lord cares for His people in a foreign land. The outcome confirms that trusting God in small acts of obedience is never in vain.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Exod 23:25So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you.
- Prov 10:22The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.
- Matt 4:4But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
- Hag 1:6You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”
- 2 Kgs 4:42–44Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha.
- Deut 28:1–14“Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
- Mark 6:41–42Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, Jesus spoke a blessing and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to His disciples to set before the people. And He divided the two fish among them all.
- Hag 1:9You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.
- Mal 2:2If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already begun to curse them, because you are not taking it to heart.
- Ps 37:16Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many who are wicked.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.
How Daniel 1:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.